shootist

[ shoo-tist ]

noun

1. a marksman with a pistol or rifle.
2. a gunfighter, as in the Old West.

Word History and Origins

Origin of shootist¹

An Americanism dating back to 1860–65; shoot ¹ + -ist

Example Sentences

That translates into enjoying Wayne often as lawman, gunslinger, soldier, pilot and even big game trapper highlighted by his Academy Award-winning role of Rooster Cogburn in “True Grit,” his co-starring with legend Jimmy Stewart in “The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance,” and a final gritty lead role of a dying gunfighter who has lived past his prime in “The Shootist.”

From Washington Times

The FBI has long given serial bank robbers nicknames, and Williams became known as “The Shootist” for his M.O. of entering a bank, jumping on a counter and firing a single gunshot into the ceiling.

From Seattle Times

Johnny Madison Williams Jr., known to the FBI as “The Shootist,” gained infamy as one of the most prolific bank robbers in U.S. history.

From Seattle Times

Among them were Katharine Hepburn and Henry Fonda playing ageing parents in On Golden Pond, John Wayne as an out-of-time gunslinger in The Shootist, and Julie Christie as a woman struggling with memory loss in Away from Her.

From The Guardian

His supremacy as a shootist is evident early in “Wild Bill,” Tom Clavin’s new biography of the gunslinger.

From New York Times